Davila’s solid showing vs. Georgia

Over the summer, Virginia Tech forward Victor Davila played against 7-foot-4 center Peter John Ramos while practicing with the Puerto Rican national team. He said it toughened him up.

This season, Davila, a sophomore, has shown promise as an offensive weapon for the Hokies (6-1) but has not shown defensive tenacity. But on Sunday, Davila played perhaps is most complete game in a 74-62 win over Georgia.

“He was more aggressive being a little more physical in his post defense,” Coach Seth Greenberg said. “He was really, really good getting after the ball. He blocked out, then came back to rebound the ball.”

Davila has a deft scoring touch with a nice game in the low block and a hook shot that he has used effectively. But earlier in the season, Greenberg said he would challenge Davila to use his 6-foot-8 frame to become more of a force on the backboards. Speaking about Davila, Greenberg said he would “get under his skin a little bit” to get him to play with more defensive grit.

After the Hokies' win over Brown on Nov. 15, Greenberg was informed that Davila had played against a 7-4 center over the summer. He did not seem impressed. “I don’t know,” Greenberg said. “I just know he had a hard time guarding a guy that was 6-8 and a step slower than me.”

But Davila was aggressive as a rebounder and banged around in the paint Sunday afternoon against the Bulldog's cadre of physical forwards. He had a season-high 11 points and nine rebounds. It was the type of performance that Greenberg and the Hokies had been waiting for.

“That was probably his best game, against good competition,” Greenberg said. “It’s not like he was playing against a bunch of schlep rocks; he was playing against some big dudes.”

Raines's uneventful debut

Freshman forward Cadarian Raines made his Virginia Tech debut on Sunday and had as many fouls (two) as minutes played. Raines, who broke his left foot in September, missed his only shot attempt from the floor and grabbed 1 rebound. At 6-9 and 238 pounds, Raines has the size to beef up the Hokies’ post presence.